Complex Consumption

You are, at present, consuming words. Each new combination of letters is a morsel for your mind to digest. In Arthur Huang's exhibit, Consumer Complexities, he quantifies this act of mass media consumption through meticulously documenting his own patterns of intake. Until Sept. 28 you can consume this enthralling exhibit in the Bryan Center's Louis Jones Brown Gallery.

The dissected pages of a magazine stretch across the gallery wall, and beneath them lay the table scraps from Huang's feast--all the words he understood and then cut from the pages of various print material. All the words he did not know cling to the skeletal pages. These words are survivors of Huang's banquet, symbols of his inability to consume.

In the adjoining room hang extensive lists of what Huang consumed everyday for the span of five months. From radio stations to food to parking meters to The Simpsons, he documents everything--save conversations and words he did not know. Above these lists are his ATM deposits and withdrawals for the year 2001.

My mind was left spinning after trying to, myself, consume the pieces. Not only did I reassess my own consumption patterns after viewing this exhibit, but I also realized the weight of this act as I digested the heavy meal of five months of documented consumption.

My sole criticism is this: Huang attempts to make a statement with visual installation art, while denying visual images any currency in his documented consumption. Among the lists of the consumed are no photographs or paintings, and the magazine visuals are left undigested with the unknown words. In Huang's attempt to make a point about our patterns of consumption, he undermines his visual medium, thus weakening his point.

Minus this small fault, I highly recommend checking out Consumer Complexities; not only is the entrance priced at every consumer's favorite fee (FREE), but more importantly, it also challenges you to reconsider your own consumption patterns. As all good works of art, it breathes new perspective into your everyday life.